Caught Between
by confused-tomato
Summary: "As she made her way down the hallway, passing by an anxious 10 year old, who was continuously bumping his heels on a wall in the waiting room while some blonde was trying her best to cheer him up, little did she know that the mysterious beautiful woman she was going to save that night was the infamous Evil Queen." AU-ish. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this is my first Swan Queen story. It's kinda AU-ish, but I tried my best to explain everything.  
Anyways, don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.  
Enjoy!**

* * *

**10 years ago**

"Yes? Who is it?" August gasped into the receiver, trying hard to calm his breathing. A short walk between his bed and the desk exhausted him more than he was willing to admit even to himself. Carefully, he sat down in an armchair and slowly touched his forehead. He frowned and took a shaky breath, feeling dampness against his fingertips.

"Mr. August Booth, I reckon?" August opened his mouth to answer, but shut it immediately as he heard the next sentence. "Or should I say… _Pinocchio_?"

"W-who…" he stuttered, grasping the phone so hard his knuckles went white. Small droplets were now covering his whole pale face and as his tongue made its way out of his mouth to moisten his lips, he tasted salt mixed with blood.

"Oh, dearie, I have been called so many names," the terrified man's heart was now beating so fast he could hardly even breathe. He closed his eyes, vainly trying to dry his face with a towel. He _knew_ this voice. "Well, you may know me as… Rumpelstiltskin."

"Rum—Rump— How—" he managed to utter before an uncontrollable wave of cough effectively prevented him from saying anything more. He covered his mouth with the towel; when the attack finally stopped, he trembled, noticing small red marks all over the soft white fabric.

"Irrelevant," Rumpelstiltskin answered, after patiently waiting an appropriate amount of time to let the man recompose himself. "I happen to know about your… condition."

"How much do you—"

"Enough to know your days are counted. And I believe you won't be able to complete your little mission?"

"I—You have to tell me—" August was now shivering as cold sweat covered his chest. His hair was completely wet. He grabbed a blanket in a desperate attempt to warm himself up.

"And one would think you don't have enough time to make small talks," the man on the other side of the line snorted, obviously losing patience. "I have my spies everywhere. And I mean both Enchanted Forest _and_ Boston. It wasn't too hard to follow a story of a little boy who found a baby on… _a roadside_, was it?" it was impossible not to notice sarcasm in his voice. "Did you take good care of our little _Emma_?"

"I did—what I could—" August panted between another waves of cough. Where was this conversation going?

"I see. How much does she know?"

"Everything," he answered, finally calming his breathing.

"Oh, that should be enough," the man said slowly, as if losing himself in his thoughts for a while.

"What do you want, Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Rather eager, aren't we? I want to help you."

"Why should I believe you?"

"I don't think you have a choice. We want the same things, _Pinocchio_."

"And that is…?"

"_The savior has to break the curse_," the man answered, making sure his words were loud and clear. August shifted uncomfortably.

"How do you remember?" he whispered, finally managing to utter a question he's been meaning to ask all along.

"I may not have told our dear queen a few things. Like that the curse can't possibly have its effect on the one who created it. At least, not anymore than he himself is willing to let it."

"Where are you? Where did the curse take you?"

"Again, irrelevant. Neither you, nor Emma will be able to come here anyway. She is not 28 years old yet. And you're, well, clearly in no state to travel. I just want you to know I'm taking over your task."

"Why… why are you telling me this?" as the minutes were passing, it was getting harder and harder for August to talk.

"Oh, dearie, as hard as it is to believe, I am a good enough person to let you live your days in peace. I promise I will make sure Emma fulfills her destiny when her time comes."

"Emma… she's… pregnant," he gasped, fighting the cough, "The baby—you have to—take care—she wa—wants to—" this time not being able to stop the attack, he just gave in, burying his sweaty face in the towel. When it finally stopped and he put the receiver back to his ear, the line already went dead.

**3 days later**

"Hey, Aug, how is it go—" Emma swiftly opened the apartment's door, but abruptly stopped in her tracks, instantly feeling something was wrong. She quickly reached her friend's room and came in, not even bothering to knock. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest when she noticed the man lying in his bed, pale as ever and barely breathing. "Oh my God, August, I'm calling the ambulance," she said, reaching for her purse to find a phone. "I'm so sorry I wasn't home for so long, I mean, it was fine in the morning, I didn't think…" she went on, looking at the dark-haired man with tears in her eyes as her trembling fingers started dialing the number.

"Stop," the man gasped, grabbing Emma's phone from her hand and ending the call.

"What are you do—"

"_Emma_. Listen to me. It's time. I can feel it and I really don't want to spend these last minutes fighting for another few seconds," his tired eyes found two worried pools of green and he did his best to try to smile, but judging from Emma's hand grasping tightly around his arm, he didn't succeed. "Emma, you have to—have to remember everything I told you. About the curse… You—your parents…" he coughed out, feeling fresh sweat flooding his cheeks. Or was it tears? "Pro—promise me, Emma."

"I promise," Emma sobbed, burying her face in her friend's palm. He was so fragile. So thin. She should've noticed. She should've taken greater care of him. He was her only family.

"Emma, please, I don't want you to blame yourself, there's nothing you could've done to stop it. Listen. One day a man called Rumpelstiltskin… I—I told you about him… He will come to you. You have to—You have to trust him, Emma. He will help you. You will break the Evil Queen's curse and it's—you will find your parents. Promise me, Emma, just promise—"

"I promise," Emma repeated. "August, please, let me help you," she begged.

"There's nothing more that can be done."

"I don't have anyone else…" Emma trembled uncontrollably, letting her tears cover August's hand.

"You have—the baby—take care—of him—" he uttered, looking at Emma's swollen belly, love clearly visible in his red-rimmed, tired eyes. His words just made Emma sob harder.

"I will," she cried quietly. "I'm just so scared, August… I'm… so scared," she whispered as she broke down completely, her arms grasping her friend for dear life.

"Promise me… One more thing…" he stuttered, breathing shallowly. "When you find my father… Gepetto… Tell him—Tell him about me—" Emma could only nod, not even able to make any sound. She felt his shaking hand stroke her hair slowly and looked up just in time to see his eyes closing, a single tear falling down his cheek just to instantly become absorbed by the pillow. When she lifted his pale bony hand with her strong fingers, she had no doubt. There was no life in her friend anymore.

If someone asked her, she wouldn't be able to say how long she was lying there, sobbing and screaming, bumping her hands against the floor until they were so bruised she couldn't even move them anymore. But when she finally stopped and stood up, there was something different in her eyes. Something new. Strong. Unbreakable.

She had to start over.

As she was leaving the apartment, she had no idea that in the years that were coming, the things her friend was so desperately trying to put in her head – stories about the curse, her real parents, all the fairytale characters, everything – were going to evaporate from her mind, leaving nothing more than a bunch of blurred memories and a few inexplicable dreams, standing no chance against the reality that was about to hit her.

* * *

**Present day**

"Emma? _Emma_," the nurse's voice was impatient as the blonde finally raised her eyes to look at her, causing Emma to think the woman must've been calling her name for some time now. She cleared her throat and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to recompose herself.

"Yes?"

"Smith wants to see you in his office. _Now_."

Emma frowned, but obediently stood up, directing her steps towards her boss's office. She opened the door reluctantly, wondering if she did something wrong, or if she was going to be fired. Was she?

"Emma! Sit down, please," the man smiled brightly and motioned towards a chair opposite his huge desk. "How are you?"

"Um, fine I guess," she answered as she sat down, unsurely smiling back at him.

"Great. I have some good news," he said as he pulled out a briefcase from his bag and opened it swiftly. "We found a hospital with a surgeon vacancy."

"Oh?"

"Well, you know that we are full on the staff here and you can't be an intern forever, you're far too good for it. So I thought you might be interested."

"Um, is it in Boston?"

"Well, not really. It's not too far from here though. It's in Storybrooke, Maine."

"I've never even—"

"I know, it's a rather small town. But they have a really modern hospital. And I heard the place itself is quite lovely."

"Sir, I—" she started, shifting uncomfortably in her chair.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I know I'm kinda throwing it all at you, I get it if you need some time to think it through," he smiled at her shyly and handed her a briefcase. "Everything's in here. Of course, I want you to know we're not firing you or anything, you're more than welcome to stay here if you want to, maybe we'll figure something out eventually."

"Wait," she said, closing her eyes for a second and taking a deep breath. Finally she looked at the man and smiled. "I will do this. I'll go there."

"You didn't even open the briefcase," he noticed, raising his eyebrow questioningly.

"I don't have to. I wanted to do something different with my life anyway, for some time now actually."

"Great," he grinned at the blonde. "I'll have everything ready by tomorrow morning, so that you can sign the papers, then you'll take as much time as you need to pack up and do what you need to do in Boston, and then you can go."

"Can I go tomorrow?"

He looked at her, clearly surprised, but didn't let the blonde take him off guard. "Of course, go through the briefcase and meet me here tomorrow at 8 am."

"Sure," she stood up and opened the door.

"And, Emma?" she stopped and looked at him once again.

"Yes?"

"Happy birthday."

* * *

"Enchanted Street, good," she mumbled, glancing at a map on her lap and smiling proudly. "1… 2… 3… aaand 4. Guess it's here," she muttered to herself, stopping her yellow beetle in front of an old-fashioned but classy apartment building. She looked around slowly. Seeing an almost empty street in the middle of the day, after spending 28 years in a busy and loud city was quite weird. She couldn't put a finger on this feeling yet, it was neither good nor bad, so she decided to give herself a while to get to know the town and then determine whether or not it was a good decision to move out from Boston. She got out of the car, not even bothering to lock it and went straight to the door. She made her way up the stairs and stopped in front of the door with number 16 on it. She rang a bell, swaying on her heels and putting a smile on her face. Finally someone opened the door and she found herself standing face to face with a shorthaired pale brunette.

"You must be Emma Swan," the woman said, grinning at her widely, before the blonde was even able to mutter her "Are you Mary Margaret?".

"Um, yes, hi."

"I'm Mary Margaret," she shook her hand vigorously. "Do you need help with your luggage?"

"No, I'm fi—"

"Come on, I'll help you," the brunette didn't let her finish as she ran downstairs, not even waiting for the blonde to follow her. The blonde shook her head, still smiling, and made her way to her car.

* * *

"Uh, look, I wanted to thank you for offering a room in your apartment to me," Emma said as all her belongings were finally settled on the floor in the middle of the living room.

"It's my pleasure, really. When I overheard that they're looking for a place for a new doctor at the hospital, I didn't even hesitate. It was getting kinda lonely living here alone. Plus, strangers rarely come to Storybrooke, so it's great to get to know someone new."

Emma smiled. She could tell the woman was definitely great friend-material – a thought that surprised even herself, considering that she didn't really have anyone she could call a friend in Boston. Not since August, anyway. "I promise I will start looking for an apartment first thing tomorrow, I wouldn't want to bother you for too long."

"Oh, please, take as much time as you need, it's really no problem," the brunette assured with an honest smile. "Um, I can show you around, if you want to of course," she added, looking at the blonde somewhat shyly.

"Um, I told doctor Whale I'll be at the hospital when the night shift starts, but I still have a few hours, so that'd be great, thanks!" Emma beamed, grabbing her red jacket and letting herself out of the apartment, Mary Margaret following her closely.

* * *

"Sidney, I don't care if the hospital can make its own decisions regarding the staff, I want to know why the hell no one told me some _tramp_ was moving into Storybrooke," the mayor yelled in her cell, taking a sharp turn into the town's main street, subconsciously pressing the gas pedal harder and harder, so that her black Mercedes was now going down the road far too fast, but she was too absorbed by the conversation to even notice.

"Madam Mayor, as I said, it's in the hospital's budget, it is no surprise they didn't think of letting you know."

"Who is this woman?"

"Her name is Emma Swan, she was an intern in the Massachusetts General Hospital, now she's taking the position of a surgeon here. No criminal record, she used to live alone in Boston, she's staying at miss Blanchard's apartment. It's all I was able to find out about her, I'm sorry."

"Miss Blanchard's apartment? How is that even—" she didn't see a huge black SUV until it was right in front of her and it was already too late. The smashed Mercedes rolled over into a roadside as the unconscious mayor fell inertly on the passenger's seat.

"Madam Mayor? _Madam Mayor_?"

* * *

"Emma?" doctor Whale ran into the blonde's office, panting and running his hand through his hair, obviously concerned.

"What happened?" she gave him a worried look and put the papers she was going through at her desk, coming closer to the man.

"I know it's your first day, but we need you for a surgery."

"I—um… Of course."

"Hurry up, I'll brief you on our way," the doctor exited the room hurriedly and the blonde followed him closely, trying to catch up on everything he said, at the same time mentally preparing herself for her first surgery in the new town.

As she made her way down the hallway, passing by an anxious 10 year old, who was continuously bumping his heels on a wall in the waiting room while some blonde was trying her best to cheer him up, little did she know that the mysterious beautiful woman she was going to save that night was the infamous Evil Queen.

* * *

**Don't forget to let me know what you think and whether or not it is worth continuing. ;)**

**/ Guys, I have no idea what's happening, I added the second chapter and it didn't show up, so I added it again and it still doesn't show up!  
I'm really upset right now, but I'll keep trying. :(  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys, I'm glad you seem to enjoy this story so far. :) I was hoping I'd be able to update earlier, but I had an unexpected writer's block, so yeah well.  
Anyways, I'm on my winter break now, so I will hopefully have time to write a few chapters before uni claims me. :D  
**

* * *

The mayor opened her eyes slowly and blinked a few times to remove the blurriness from her eyes. When her vision finally adjusted to the new circumstances, she noticed two green orbs staring down at her with almost uncomfortable intensity. She frowned.

"Excuse me," she muttered, her voice more husky than ever due to lack of use in the recent hours. "Who are you?"

"Um," the woman bit her lip nervously as if the mayor caught her doing something inappropriate and ran her hand through her long blonde curls. "I'm doctor Swan, I—"

"Of course," the brunette cut her off, rolling her eyes and sighing as she remembered the conversation she had with Sidney Glass right before… Exactly, right before what?_ I'm definitely not asking this woman_, she thought and turned her eyes towards the blonde with a patronizing smirk. "Can I please speak to a _real_ doctor?" she asked sweetly, noticing with satisfaction that the blonde's expression changed from embarrassed to annoyed.

"I _am_ a real do—"

"_Of course_ you are, dear," she nodded her head mockingly, making the blonde blush under her gaze. Their exchange of looks lasted a few seconds before the door to the brunette's ward opened and doctor Whale came in.

"Doctor Whale, thank God!" the mayor exclaimed dramatically. "Miss…" she looked at the blonde's ID, pretending she couldn't recall her name, "Swan here just—"

"Regina, _doctor_ Swan here saved your life," doctor Whale cut her off briefly, already annoyed by the mayor's behavior towards his new employee, but the brunette was not a person who would easily let someone take her off guard, so she just raised her eyebrow.

"Well, I guess that's her job, isn't it."

"It is," the blonde answered coldly, turning on her heels and exiting the room, not able to stand any more completely irrational bad attitude from the brunette.

"God, Whale, some drama queen you have here," Regina smirked, looking at the man playfully.

"Well, mayor Mills, if you are done reducing my staff's self-esteem to the size of a peeble, you might be interested in finding out what has been happening to you during the last 12 hours?"

* * *

"Excuse me!" Emma turned around hearing a childish voice behind her back.

"Yes?" she looked down at a boy who was standing next to the door leading to the waiting room with a worried expression on his face.

"Is my mom okay?"

"Your mom is…?"

"The mayor?"

"Oh, of course," Emma rolled her eyes, looking at the boy's sophisticated clothes. She should've known. "Yeah, kid, she just woke up. I think you can go see her now."

"Great!" the boy ran towards his mother's ward, looking back at Emma just before entering with a huge grin, "Thanks!" Emma smiled at the boy; she felt like there was something familiar about him, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it.

* * *

"How are you, mom?" Henry asked, glancing at the aperture next to Regina's bed; all the wires and pipes were making him feel uncomfortable. Would his mom be dead now if it wasn't for them?

"I'm okay, Henry," the brunette answered, looking at her son lovingly and placing her hand over his in a protective manner. "It was just a small internal bleeding, that's why I had to be operated. Apart from that, there was nothing you should be worried about – I passed out because I hit the steering wheel," she showed him a bump on the right side of her forehead. "And I have some bruises and cuts on my arms and stomach, but they should fade quickly."

"When are you coming back?"

"Soon, honey. I promise it will only be a couple of days, they said I have to stay here under observation so they can make sure the internal bleeding is not coming back. I already talked to Kathryn and you will be staying with her till I come back; I know you always have so much fun with David. Of course, you can visit me whenever you want to, but I'd rather if you decided not to spend too much time in the hospital, it's such a depressing place."

Henry shrugged and attempted a smile at his mother. "Sure. Can I just stay a few hours today? I was really worried."

Regina's eyes lit up at the boy's words. "Of course."

* * *

"Hot chocolate with cinnamon on top, please," Emma smiled at the bartender and patiently waited for her order.

"I'll have the same," she heard while picking up her drink. Looking to the right, she saw the mayor's kid smiling widely at her. "It's the best with cinnamon," he added matter-of-factly and took the cup with both his hands, careful not to touch the hot surface.

"It really is," she replied and walked away to sit at one of the tables standing in the hospital's café. She blew at her drink and slowly took a sip, instantly noticing that it definitely wasn't as good as at Granny's.

"I haven't seen any strangers in Storybrooke since I remember," she looked up and mentally rolled her eyes. Was that kid following her or what?

"It's getting pretty late, kid, why are you still here?"

"My mom fell asleep, I wanted to wait for a while in case she wakes up anytime soon. But Mrs. Nolan will pick me up at 10 pm sharp," the boy replied smoothly, clearly not at all feeling uncomfortable talking to an adult he has never met before in his life. _Well, self-confidence probably runs in his family,_ she thought, remembering the mayor.

"So, where are you from?" he asked, smiling widely and sitting down in a chair opposite hers.

"Boston," she answered briefly. She didn't want to be rude, but she was extremely tired after 24 hours spent in the hospital; technically she could've left after the night shift finished at 8 am, but she decided to stay and get used to the environment.

"Cool! How is it there?"

She sighed and ran a hair through her hair. "Loud. And crowded."

The boy smiled. "Well, Storybrooke is completely different…" he said and looked down at his hot chocolate, suddenly seeming a little bit shy. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure—" she looked at him a little bit expectantly, realizing she didn't know his name.

"Henry," he attempted a small smile as he took a deep breath and continue. "My mom says that her accident wasn't anything serious and that her life wasn't in danger… Is that true?"

"Look, kid, I really shouldn't—"

"Please," he looked at her imploringly. "I'm really worried," he muttered quietly.

Emma glanced at him, shaking her head in disbelief. "We got to her in time, everything went pretty smoothly," she extended her hand and squeezed his lightly, earning a surprised, but grateful smile. "She will be just fine," she reassured him and looked at her watch. "It's almost ten," she said, "You might want to go check on your mom now," the blonde reminded Henry softly and he just nodded and stood up, preparing himself to leave.

None of them noticed a short, long-haired man, who was looking at the café from the hallway, supporting his weight on a cane and smiling to himself, satisfaction clearly visible on his face.

* * *

Around 11 pm Emma was about to go home, but in the last second changed her mind and decided to find out how the mayor was doing. She remembered Henry leaving in a significantly better mood and she couldn't bring herself to regret not telling him the whole truth about his mother's accident.

The blonde opened the door quietly and came in, standing in front of the seemingly asleep mayor's bed. She glanced at the EKG monitor and felt relief, noticing that everything was fine. Looking down at the brunette's peaceful face she felt her stomach twisting when she recalled how much pain was on that face less than 24 hours earlier. As rude as the woman was to her this morning, Emma – like every good doctor – didn't hold the grudge. She was used to patients acting far worse after far smaller accidents than the one Regina was a part of. She just regretted the way she reacted to Regina's words, realizing that doctor Whale must have thought she was some spoiled child who couldn't endure a stupid snarky comment from an injured woman. She mentally slapped herself and let her eyes travel slowly down Regina's body and back to the monitor. She almost jumped out of her shoes when she heard a husky voice coming from underneath.

"You were doing it again, doctor Swan," Emma looked at the brunette, raising an eyebrow as she realized that she just used her title without even a hint of venom or mockery in her voice.

"Doing what, madam mayor?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Staring," the brunette answered with a soft but visible smirk on her face.

The blonde just smiled. "I was just checking on you, madam mayor, after all, _that's my job_," she said, specifically emphasizing the last few words. The brunette seemed to understand the soft allusion to their previous conversation as she just cleared her throat and changed the subject.

"Henry told me you comforted him. Thank you."

"Yeah, he was really worried, I thought well, if I can help him, then why not," the blonde just simply shrugged, in the meantime making sure that the mayor's intravenous drip was refilled for the night.

"He seems to like you," the brunette said quietly, her eyes soft as they landed on the blonde, who was still too busy checking the aperture to notice. "He doesn't usually talk much to anyone, not to mention strangers, so it's a pleasant surprise to see him letting someone in that easily."

Finally the blonde stopped her movement and glanced at the brunette, running a hand through her hair, the corners of her lips curled up slightly. "Well, he's a great kid," she said, not realizing until the words left her mouth that she fully meant it.

"He is, isn't he," the mayor mumbled as her eyes started closing slowly and the blonde knew it was probably the painkillers kicking in again. She looked around the room one more time and made her way to the door slowly, careful not to disturb her patient. She froze when she heard an almost inaudible voice behind her back.

"I'm glad you saved my life."

The blonde was going to leave without a word, but when she was just about to close the door, she glanced at the woman with an unexpectedly honest smile on her face.

"Me too."

* * *

**I know it was more of a filler, but I wanted to start developing a relationship between Emma and Henry, because it's really important to the story.**  
**And I have to give Regina some time to heal before all the- actually, no, I'm not telling! :D *grins wickedly***  
**Well, make sure to tell me what you think! :)**

**Aaand, I just wanted to let you know I created a Tumblr account!  
My login is _i-thought-i-saw-a-sign_, so if you feel like fangirling with me, I'd be honoured! :D**


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